Have you planted a garden with kids? Now is the time to start! We reached out to Susannah Fotopulos, a mother of two, who started Plant the Seed, a Nashville nonprofit focused on helping young children learn about food, healthy living, and gardening. She and Garden Expert Josh Corlew get kids learning and growing through gardening. They not only teach kids gross and fine motor skills, but they also challenge them on a social and emotional level, too. They happily passed along tips.

Gardening with your kids is a great way to teach them about nature, but we can also teach other lessons, like sharing and caring for one another. Here are five tips to get your family on the right path:

1. Plant your garden together. Discuss which plants you grow and how big they will get. What do they need to stay alive? How far apart should they be planted to leave room to grow. Children learn so much from hands-on experiences like gardening, and they take pride in returning to the garden you’ve built together to watch their plants grow and thrive.

2. Consistently water and care for your plants together everyday. After you plant, take time to water them regularly. Do they need a little extra water or none at all? It can be a fun daily routine to check in on your plants. The experience will bond both of you and also remind your child that, like all of us, plants need to be cared for every day.